Are you standing firm?
Ephesians 6:10-18
1 ENDGAME – WHAT TO DO
2 ENEMY – WHY IT’S DIFFICULT
3 EQUIPMENT – HOW TO DO IT
Theme sentence: If our ENDGAME is to stand firm, our ENEMY is trying to knock us down, we need the EQUIPMENT if we’re going to stand firm.
PRAY: SLOWLY: Holy and Powerful God, we long for you to speak to us. We are listening, expecting you to speak to us. Spirit of God, Explain your Word to us, Encourage us. Equip us. In Jesus Name, Amen.
- TRANSITION: First, let’s consider the Endgame. Look at Ephesians 6:10-12.The ENDGAME / (v10-11, 13)
10 Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might. 11 Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil.
13 Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm.
What do you think the goal is for spiritual battle?
If someone asked you what spiritual victory means, what would you say?
What are we aiming to do?
The goal is to STAND FIRM
- That doesn’t sound very flashy, spicy
- There is a repetition – four times we’re told in this passage to stand firm.
- Standing firm doesn’t really sound very appealing until you fall.
James 4:7 – Resist the devil and he will flee from you.
What’s the opposite of standing firm –
- Getting knocked over.
- Growing weary and falling over from fatigue.
- Moving out of the way – or joining in
This week, you will fight multiple spiritual battles against the enemy. God’s goal when you’re tempted to doubt – is that you stand firm.
How do you want to end? Keller. Zacharias
TRANSITION: What is the goal: To stand firm. Why is it so hard – because you have an enemy trying to make you slip.
2 The ENEMY (v11-13)
11 Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil. 12 For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. 13 Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm.
THREE THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT YOUR ENEMY:
1 – PERSUASIVE:
that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil. (V11)
- In Genesis 3 we saw how Persuasive Satan was when he deceived Eve.
- The serpent was more cunning/crafty.
- Satan is the ultimate manipulator.
- Satan specializes in mixing enough truth with falsehood to make it seem plausible, just as he did with Eve in the garden.
Satan is really good at impressions.
2 Corinthians 11:14 – Satan disguises himself as an angel of light.”
- Satan is such a mischievous tempter that he is even willing to use God’s own words to tempt us.
- That’s what he did with Jesus in the wilderness.
- That’s what he will do to us.
- Satan’s imitation of God will make you forget all that you have in Christ.
- “Give in – you can be happy”.
- Satan has nothing for you but a cycle of sin.
TS: It’s hard to stand firm because your enemy is persuasive.
It’s hard to stand firm because your enemy is POWERFUL.2 – POWERFUL:
12 For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.
Two great enemies that work together to keep us from seeking the truth.
1 – Satan/demons.
2 – Your flesh Pastor Sam talked about last week)
- Romans 7: – The things I want to do, I do not do…
- So he comes and tells us lies – and we repeat them to ourselves.
You told yourself dozens of lies this week –
- “this isn’t that big of a deal.” “I’m what’s most important.”
- “How dare they not respect me or listen to me.”
For we do not (MERELY) wrestle against flesh and blood,
It’s not just you against your bad habits.
It’s you against what? Against
Rulers. Authorities. Cosmic Powers.Spiritual forces.
You are overwhelmingly outmatched.
THIS IS NOT JUST A TRY HARDER VERSE
YOU CANNOT BEAT DEMONS ON YOUR OWN.
TRANSITION: It’s difficult to stand firm because the enemy is PERSUASIVE, & he is POWERFUL, but he is also defeated.
3 DEFEATED, but not terminated yet.
Colossians 2:15 tell show Jesus leads a victory parade – “And having disarmed the powers and authorities, he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross.”
The cross reminds you that God is more powerful than evil and demons.
- The cross is where Jesus defeated Satan’s power.
- The cross is where Jesus kicked out the teeth of the roaring lion who seeks to devour.
TRANSITION: The endgame is to stand firm? Why is it difficult? Our enemy. So how do we do it? We need the right equipment.
3. The EQUIPMENT (v14-18)
SLEEPING BAG:
If you’re camping in your back yard – the ole Ozark Trail sleeping bag will do just fine. But if you are climbing Mouth Everest in sub zero temperatures, you are gonna need a high quality bag.
Who’s armor is it? God’s armor.
Our problem is often that we think we can settle for our own armor, manufactured by us.
- Truth that I manufacture:
- Righteousness of my own.
- Good news based on my bank account.
The Spiritual battle we are in requires God’s armor.
This armor is forged by God and gifted to us.
TS There are several pieces of battle armor given to you, Christian. Let’s examine them one at a time. First, the Belt of Truth
1 BELT OF TRUTH (v14)
Stand therefore, having fastened on the belt of truth,
So you gotta put on your belt. But what kind of belt?
It does NOT say – belt of love. Or belt of righteousness.
Belt of truth.
Belt is a form fitting piece of clothing.
You must apply it to your life.
Truth is form fitting.
You gotta buckle truth of who God is to your life as you fight against a persuasive and powerful enemy.
BELT WARNS YOU
If you’re gaining weight – it tells you. You’re having to move down a notch.
Sometimes the truth can make us or others uncomfortable.
THE OPPOSITE:
The sad news: Too many Christians exchange the Belt of Truth for the elastic band of my feelings.
OR They want to EXPAND the truth: God’s truth don’t change.
TRANSITION: Next let’s pick up the breastplate or vest of Righteousness
2 BREASTPLATE OF RIGHTEOUSNESS (v14)
v14 having put on the breastplate of righteousness.
The breastplate was a hammered metal that covered the torso.
Breastplate/vest – what’s it do – protects your heart and organs.
Belt of truth is a piece of armor that God hands to you as he says: you’ll have some folks challenge what you believe.
The Breastplate of righteousness He says – “Your enemy is coming right for your heart. Your desires.”
What kind of breastplate? Righteousness. EVERYONE SAY IT
Righteous in our language just means good. But in the original language the meaning is more like “good standing/good relationship.”
Another way of saying it might be: We put on rightness with God.
You have persuasive and powerful enemy who is aiming at your heart.
What’s gonna guard your heart when you’re tempted to stray?
Not a belief system – but a relationship.
The right relationship you have with God because of the Son of God.
Only a right relationship with God that will guard your heart.
Satan tempts us to see ourselves as:
1 – LESS THAN HUMAN – animal with desires/cravings – just give in.
You can stand up to those temptations and say – no! I’m more than just an animal with desires and needs.
2 – MORE THAN HUMAN – like God – deserving more, power/control
I don’t have to have all the control because I’m no longer a spiritual orphan – I have a good Father.
I’m a dearly loved child of God. Christ has fully adopted you. Jesus is building a place for us.
TRANSITION:
Let’s put the breastplate back and pick up the shoes.
3 SHOES (v15)
v15 as shoes for your feet, having put on the readiness given by the gospel of peace.
FOREST GUMP: You can tell a lot about a person by their shoes.
What kind of shoes – shoes of readiness given by the gospel of peace.
The phrase about “readiness given by the gospel of peace” made me think we need to run out and share the gospel.
- Yes – every Christian should be ready to share the gospel.
- That’s why we encourage each member to have one person you are actively praying for and looking for opportunities to share.
Although that is true, I don’t think it is the main point of these shoes.
What’s the goal of the battle: Stand Firm.
- These are “warrior shoes” that Roman soldiers wore.
- They were like cleated boots – more for digging in for battle.
- Think of football player, digging in his cleats at the line of scrimmage.
- These boots gave the fighter good footing so he wouldn’t get knocked over in the battle. So he would’t slip.
- So we are told we must have good footing in the gospel of peace.
Your Power comes from launching off of this firm foundation.
How does the gospel give us readiness for battle?
-because it’s all been taken care of, I can go bear witness.
You cannot fight for Christ if you ain’t wearing the team shoes of the gospel.
Sometimes Satan just surprises you with a temptation outta nowhere.
- You just scrolling through your notifications and something shows up.
- You having your normal day and boom someone cuts you off.
Firm footing in the gospel will help you when Satan launches a surprise attack against you.
TRANSITION: Put the shoes back & next pick up the shield of faith.4 SHIELD OF FAITH (v16)
16 In all circumstances take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one;
Shield of Faith – trusting God when you cannot see.
Faith is trusting not because it looks good, but because it looks BAD.
What’s the shield protect you from? flaming darts of the evil one.
- Burning arrows were designed to destroy wooden shield.
- Satan knows that he can get you set on fire with your desires. If he can get you to follow your feelings/heart, you’ll smolder inside.
- This warrior shield was multiple layers thick to extinguish these arrows.
- Not just a round shield, but a large shield – 4 feet high and 2.5 feet wide, very much like a DOOR (from which the word is actually derived).
In the Marvel comics, there’s a hero called Hawkeye. He is an archer and he has a variety of arrows to employ for different purposes, depending upon what the battle calls for.
Satan will shoot different kinds of darts at you:
He’ll even impersonate God and twist the word:
DARTS OF DOUBT will cause you to doubt God’s goodness.
Satan impersonates God: “How dare you doubt God! I’m allowing this pain to punish you.
DARTS OF DELIGHT tempt us to go after temporary pleasure
Satan impersonates God:You deserve a break. Go ahead. I made this world with good things for you to enjoy. Cast off restraint. I’ll be waiting to forgive you if you go too far.
DARTS OF DEVOTION– will tempt us to find our identity in a good thing like work, marriage, kids, church, serving.
Satan impersonates God: Prove your worth to me, child. Do some more good. Prove your love.
YOU MUST TAKE UP THIS SHIELD OF FAITH to defend against these fiery darts.
TRANSITION: Take up the shield of faith. And the Helmet of salvation.5 HELMET OF SALVATION (v17)
v17 and take the helmet of salvation,
What’s a helmet protect? Head / thinking
- Take up the helmet of salvation protect your mind from Satan’s schemes.
- Christ comes in and gives you His Spirit.
- If you are not committed to Christ, you do not have the Spirit of Christ in you.
- Romans 12 tells us that the Spirt of God comes to protect us from having our mind and thinking being conformed to the world.
We must put on the helmet of SALVATION – of what Christ has done to make us right, to keep us right, of who we are on Christ.
Satan can plant an evil idea in your mind.
You’ll be tempted with evil thoughts. Don’t let them stay long.
Luther said “I can’t keep the birds from flying over my head, but I can prevent them from building a nest on my head.”
The helmet assures us that “whatever happens we will be saved and experience victory in Christ.”
Are you fearful in this battle? Strap on this helmet of salvation accomplished for you. Let it guard your mind. Stand tall – you are victorious in Christ.
TRANSITION: Next is the Sword of the Spirit.
6 Sword of the Spirit/ Word of God v17b)
17 b the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God
a double-edges short sword – most effective weapon for hand-to-hand fighting – What’s the Sword – the Word of God.
- The danger is that Satan is a deceiver and he will fight us with the word of God, wrongly applied and interpreted – just as he did with Christ.
THE OPPOSITE: The pool noodle of generic Christian quotes.
“God helps those who help themselves.”
“Don’t judge” “Be kind” “Love everyone”
Satan’s not afraid of your small knowledge of scripture.
KNOW THE WORD AND HOW TO WIELD IT:
Satan is a schemer – he knows the word too – does he know it better than you?
The word of God is to be wielded like a sharp two-edged sword, in the mighty power of his Holy Spirit.
“God said it, I believe it, that settles it.”That settles nothing.
You gotta get the word in your heart and soul.
Don’t just say you believe it.
As you read the word, study the word, meditate on the word, you learn how to wield it.
When Satan tempts you to sin, or to give in to what the world says, do you know the word enough to wield it well?
TRANSITION: The last item is prayer.
7 PRAYER v18
18 praying at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication.
TRANSITION: So we know we have an endgame to stand firm. It’s difficult to attain because we have an enemy. Now we know how to attain it – by using God’s armor.
COLLIDE:
This armor does no good sitting on a shelf.
But the battle we are fighting is not “armor optional”.
LOOK RIGHT AT ME:
Some of you are knocked down and losing big time.
You need to humbly confess that you need God to help you.
Some of you are unaware of how you’ve been believing little lies.
You need to put this armor on.
CALL:
The Holy Spirit of God has come near you today with the key to your handcuffs.
Will you leave standing firm against the devil?
Or will you harden your heart once again
and leave standing firm against the God who has come near to help you and free you?
Pray to receive his help.
Let’s pray.
You may need to respond by saying: God – I’m on my own – I’ve never surrendered my life to you. I’m fighting this battle alone.
God will you save me. Be a shield around me and let Christ’s sacrifice speak on my behalf.
You may need to respond by saying – God, I know I’m not alone, but I’ve been fighting on my own power. Help me to rely on you.
You may need to respond by say: God, I’ve let down my guard. Forgive me, help me get back up and fight in your power so that I can stand firm.